Ordered a few items and I am starting to suspect they do not even have the item on the picture. I also noticed a lot of sellers are using the same pictures..
The pictures look amateur so it looks like you get exactly the item in the picture but it does not look like that is how it works.
Any experiences with this?
9 comments
You’re ordering stuff from China. All the Chinese resellers are buying it from the same factory and using the factory’s photo because they don’t actually carry any inventory they operate strictly as drop shippers. Do a google image search and find the original factory and buy directly from them.
They are likely drop shippers, they list on Amazon and when they make a sale they purchase on a cheaper site and ship it straight to you from there.
I generally tend to avoid third-party sellers on Amazon unless it’s a well-known company.
Have a look at the estimated delivery time. If it’ll get to you in a day or two, it’s stocked locally.
If it’s 2-3 weeks out, they’re (usually) drop shipping it from China.
While it’s often possible to purchase directly from the source for (slightly) cheaper, one small advantage of getting it though Amazon JP is that if there is a problem with it, returns/refunds are usually a bit easier.
Look to see where the seller is located.
If it’s not shipping from one of Amazon’s cyclopean warehouses, then scrutinise them scrupulously.
Very common for cheap Chinese stuff. If you notice that the estimated delivery time is long and the seller is using something like a stock photo, just reverse search the image to find it on Aliexpress.
There, you can bypass the drop-shippers and order exactly the same product from exactly the same factory for a much lower price.
Worked very briefly for a drop shipper based in Tokyo many, many moons ago, they have some crazy and ingenious ways to game the system.
Amazon Jp is a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
That being said, Amazon’s seller T&Cs are clear. They can only list what they have in stock. You can really fuck with a store if you catch them breaking these T&Cs. Call them out on it or threaten to get in touch with Amazon support. Then leave explicit seller feedback if they don’t comply with your demands. They have to justify to amazon in a lengthy email why they broke the T&Cs and with enough negative feedback they will get their store suspended. These guys invest a lot in their stores, and closing, migrating and setting up a new one is a big expense for them. They even go to great lengths to pay for a ton of ‘fake’ positive feedback.
Finally, flag the item to amazon. Items should not have multiple product pages. If you really want leverage over the store, look at their inventory, find three such duplicate products and leave links in the contact/feedback you give them saying that they look suspicious and that these accounts appear fake. They will respond within 24 hrs.
Look also at the feedback for the products on these duplicate pages. Often, these pages used to belong to another product that has been re-branded and the older “4-5” star reviews will relate to an entirely different product than the one currently listed. Sometimes these were popular but currently discontinued products whose listing has been hijacked, other times they were a fake listing of a product that was purchased in bulk by the store itself at like ¥100 a pop, just so they could leave their own feedback – this process is usually automated via thousands of fake amazon accounts and paid via discount point cards bought in bulk. A lot of of the crazily popular, highly reviewed Chinese tech products use this tactic. And it works.
This insanely fraudulent behavior is another strike against the T&Cs. Feeding this back to Amazon will result in the store having its trading privileges suspended and an investigation into their practices. Feeding it back to store, however, gives you enough leverage to make a few demands.
My advice is to only buy from Prime sellers who guarantee delivery in 1-2 days. Better yet, confirm that it’s shipped by amazon. If you do have to buy cheap stuff manufactured in China, make sure you buy it directly from their store, not from a drop shipper.
Easiest solution to this is to only ever get from someone that ships through Prime. At least that way you know the company is doing the bare minimum and at least stocking their wares through Amazon directly.
i get the wife to do a native check on reviews. can usually suss out if it was written by china bots.